question for RandySilverPhoto

Hello Sir,

I did a search but can%26#39;t find the previous post. Can you tell me how to take indoor pictures with dim lighting and not have them turn out blurry? I have a simple Sony Cybershot (sorry, I forget the pixels.)

Even using the indoor or night settings I still get blurry shots. Any suggestions?

Thanks!

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I%26#39;m not Randy but by the sound of it, with your camera you are going to have to use a tripod.

If you have no other film speed setting for low light other than you mention the the tripod is going to be your best friend here.

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thanks George....

I really am a point and shoot kind of girl so I%26#39;m assuming that what you%26#39;re telling me is the shakiness is just enough that the light can%26#39;t stabilize? that%26#39;s my theory because my outside/bright light pictures are just fine and the camera does have a %26quot;steady hand%26quot; feature.

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%26lt;%26lt;the tripod is going to be your best friend here.%26gt;%26gt; Not in Paris it is not, tripods are a major hassel and will get you in more trouble than they are worth.

I find that chair backs, pillars, my kids%26#39; heads all work out. Or adding an element of movement into the shot.

I don%26#39;t know the Cybershot, but with my Canon I can set the ISO to a faster speed, making for better results in low light situations.

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Hi JustGrace,

As you know, I AM Randy.

With the night or indoor settings on your camera,

that relates to allow enough light in for a fairly

good exposure. What it does is slow down the

%26quot;shutter speed%26quot; hence the blurs.

If you are taking a photograph in low light

(indoors or at night) you need a stable

platform for your camera. A tripod is not

the answer in Paris and most other places.

You need to brace yourself against a wall,

in a church put your elbows on the back

of a pew, if you want to take buildings

at night, sit or kneel or find a statue to

lean against.

As has been suggested, if your camera

allows you to do it, increase the %26quot;film speed iso%26quot;

to 1600 or whatever the highest

setting you have .

In the %26quot;old days%26quot; (as you may remember I began

my professional photography practice in 1969)

we had to unload a slower film and reload a

faster film. Now you just dial in a higher ISO

(it used to be called ASA).

If worst comes to worst (and I mean worst) you

could consider purchasing a monopod, but

I would consider it seriously first.

Did I ever send you some of the images that

I will be using in my upcoming book,

THE FRENCH LANDSCAPE: IMAGES OF A

SPECIAL LIGHT ? All taken in Paris and

northern France in b%26amp;w infrared.

My email address is randy-silver-photo@juno.com

Send me yours and I%26#39;ll send them along.

Thanks for the question, I hope the information

is helpful.

Take good care,

Randy

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Randy - you%26#39;ve been talking about this book for a while - what%26#39;s the progress? When will it be released? How can I get a copy Down Under?

Sandra

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Hi stur2138,

The book is due to be published this September.

Send me your email address and I will send you

the announcement as soon as it is out.

My email address is in the previous post. Let

me know if you would like some advance images

and I will email them to you.

The easiest part was photographing in France for

5 Septembers starting in 2000.

The hardest part was getting the infrared film passed

the French and US sercurity people without them

ruining it.

The next most difficult task has been working

with the publishing world.

Of course the death of my agent was really difficult.

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%26gt;%26gt;Can you tell me how to take indoor pictures with dim lighting and not have them turn out blurry? %26lt;%26lt;

Use tungsten film ? %26lt;g%26gt;

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Thanks Randy! appreciate the help...

and yes, you did send me some lovely photos of Paris and also (I believe) Amsterdam. but my email has changed so I%26#39;ll send you the new one so I can get the update when the book is published. I%26#39;ve been looking forward to it.

merci encore. :)

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With digital cameras, it%26#39;s also helpful if you don%26#39;t %26quot;zoom in%26quot; when shooting in low light. If your camera has a self-timer (the SONY website indicates it has a 10sec or 2sec option), and you can set it down on something to get the photo, it will help you a lot, beyond being able to adjust the film speed settings, etc.

I don%26#39;t know what model of the Cybershot you have, but the Sony website indicates that every model they%26#39;re selling currently, has a %26quot;High Sensitivity%26quot; mode in the %26quot;scene selections%26quot;, which will set the ISO at 1000, so if you see that on your camera or can find out how to do it with your user guide or owners manual, you can switch to that when taking your indoor shots. In the P-Auto mode, which is available on current models, you can also control the shutter speed between 1 - 1/2000.

So...it looks like the camera has some options to simulate on SLR, either by being able to adjust the shutter speed in the P-Auto mode, or by setting the camera to %26quot;high sensitivity%26quot; to speed up the simulated film speed, or ISO (fka ASA).

And from the simple technical aspect of it, when shooting in low light without a flash, a faster film speed is desirable, and a slower shutter speed is necessary. The slower shutter (that %26quot;thing%26quot; that opens up to %26quot;expose%26quot; film) speed means that more light will hit the simulated film, but it also means that if you move the camera while the shutter is open, you%26#39;ll get that blur you%26#39;re trying to avoid, so the key is to make certain the camera doesn%26#39;t move at all while the shutter is open. A faster film speed will allow for a faster shutter speed, which simply translates to the time you must stand still, hence, being able to set the camera down and use the self timer takes the %26quot;standing still%26quot; part of it out of the equation.

The one other factor involved to a certain degree that you may have heard of or read about is the F-stop, which is a number associated with the size, or opening, of the aperture, which also controls the amount of light that reaches the film. Photographers will adjust the aperture to do things like increase or decrease the depth of field, which allows background subjects to stay in focus, or be completely blurred out when a closer object is the main subject of the photo. Changing the f-stop will increase or decrease the amount of light that hits the film, so the shutter speed will often need to be adjusted to compensate for the larger or smaller aperture opening. It doesn%26#39;t appear to me, based on the features noted on the Sony website, that you have the ability to control the f-stop on your camera. I mention it though, because as you%26#39;re learning to use your camera and begin to understand how to change some of the features to shoot in low light, you may see an indication on your display for the F-stop (and that it might change) when you%26#39;re changing the shutter speed in the P-Auto mode.

To the best of my interpretation of the information on the website, because of the way your camera is set up, you will only have one option at a time. You can either adjust the the shutter speed in the P-Auto mode, OR, you can choose %26quot;scene selections%26quot; and pick the %26quot;High Sensitivity%26quot; mode to change the ISO. Once you change the ISO, your camera will then automatically select the shutter speed. The beauty, as you know, of a digital camera, is that you can try several different ways to shoot the same photo until you get the one you want.

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ArrowCapet,

Good information on the specific digital camera.

The longer the focal length of the lens (zoom) the more

potential camera movement (shake or blur) will occur.

Shooting on wide angle (short focal length) will

more than likely result in less camera shake or blur.

The image can then be cropped when printing.

The use of tungsten film will only give you a certain

amount of kelvin temperature (color correction).

The film is hard to find and the speed is not high enough

so you can%26#39;t hand hold your camera.

Another option for color correction with film is

to use one of many color correction filters.

Now you are into a tripod as the color correction

filters have a filter factor which lowers the

amount of light hitting the film.

One of the beauties of some digital cameras

is that it allows you to dial in the type of light

in which you are working.

The bottom line is that great photographs still

remain in the realm of creative photographers

and not camera manufacturers.